The Dance
by Maridee
Summary: Severus Snape is determined to hold her just once before she leaves, whether she likes it or not. To his surprise she does. HG/SS pairing


Summary: HG/SS – Severus Snape is determined to hold her just once before she leaves, whether she likes it or not. To his surprise she does.

The Dance

By Maridee Eternity

With purpose and determination he enters the Great Hall. His stride is swift and confident like a great cat stalking its prey. As his robes billow behind him, his eyes are ablaze with need. He quickly scans the crowd gathered for the Leaving Feast, until finally he sees her, alone in the corner. With stealth he circles the room and moves up behind her. He watches her for a moment as she sits in a chair at an otherwise deserted table. He wonders to himself how anyone could leave this goddess alone in the corner, when she clearly deserved to be the queen of the ball.

She is watching her friends out on the dance floor enjoying the music, Harry is spinning Ginny awkwardly around, and Ron is stepping all over Luna's feet. She chuckles to herself at the sight, and then suddenly, the hairs on the back of her neck stand up as she realizes a presence is behind her. Before she can turn around she feels a hand being gently laid on her shoulder. Slowly she looks up to find him standing there.

His beautiful black eyes are looking down into her deep brown ones. He was the last person she had ever thought would ask her to dance. But he was also the one person, that in her heart, she knew she had wanted it to be. After years of hidden stares and stolen glances during class, could he finally be making her dreams come true?

He held out his hand in an unspoken request. She shyly smiles up at him and nods in acknowledgement. Timidly she places her hand in his strong yet gentle grasp and rises from her chair. As she turns from the table to be lead across to the dance floor she dares to look up at him again and unwittingly she catches his eye. Deep within those perfect black orbs she swears she sees a glimmer of what could be happiness, but as quickly as it appeared it is gone.

The butterflies begin fluttering in her stomach as she wonders in amazement how and why after seven years this is happening. Could he have known that she wanted this moment to happen more than anything? She quickly diminishes the thought as foolishness on her part, but on second thought, never once in all of those years had he ever once asked another student to dance. Why now?

She lets him guide her smoothly to the dance floor and almost like magic the next song begins. She turns to him and places her other hand on his shoulder and he places his freehand on the small of her back. A waive of electricity shots up her spine and her knee feel like they are about to give out at just a single touch from the palm of his hand. Gladly she lets her brain takes over her body from her heart, because it knows that this may be her only chance to be this close to him.

Behind her she hears gasps from throughout the crowd as they realize who has just stepped onto the floor. So as not to look cowardly she raises her stance up, tilts her head slightly, and takes a deep breath, as he guides her effortlessly across the floor.

'Amazing' she thinks to herself, he is so graceful, and yet has such a masculine presence. She knows at this moment that he could lead her anywhere, and she would follow. With this moment of clarity she recognizes the song that is playing, it is a muggle song she knows well, one of her favorites actually. It is, The Reason by Hoobastank, the perfect song, then the questions pops into her mind, could he have planned this. If so, why?

After all she was just Hermione, the bushy haired Know-it-all. As if he can read her mind he pulls her closer to him. Finding every last bit of courage she has left she tilts her head up to look into his eyes. What she finds are those perfectly deep pools of black looking back down at her. She is locked in his mesmerizing gaze, her mind telling her to look away but this time she lets her heart take over. Looking deep into his eyes she tries to find some sign as to why this man would ask her the resident Know-it-All to dance with him.

For a tick in time she sees him smile down at her, but just as soon as it appears it is gone again. He breaks eyes contact and twirls her around and out. When he pulls her back to he him he nestles her even closer into his embrace. Now their bodies are pressed together intimately and every nerve in her body where they touch feels like it is on fire. She wants him now more than ever.

Her heart is racing as nuzzles her nose into the hair at the side of his neck. She breathes in deeply, he smells of a mixture of sandalwood and what can only be his own magnificent scent. Her senses explode in a culmination of desire, and longing. For so long she had wanted to touch him, to be near him, and here she is finally, in his arms on the dance floor. His firm yet gentle grasp on her is so opposite of his normal harsh and cruel persona, but as she had always suspected underneath that stone exterior was another side of him just waiting for the right person to bring it out. Could she be this person?

She again hears the whispers of the crowd around her as they dance by. But she doesn't care what they think, she is happy to be completely lost in this moment. She looks up to find him again gazing down at her. This time she swears she caught a glimpse of desire in his eyes and as he quickly tries to change his expression to hide his emotions, she smiles up at him knowingly. He is so caught off guard by this approval of his own desires that he holds her gaze longingly. He quirks his brow and smirks back at her in wonder.

The song has come to and end and he releases her, he steps back takes her hand and bows as he kisses her hand. As his lips touch her hand that she feels a jolt of electricity run though her body and she moans softly. This brings a crooked smile to his lips as he says, "Until next time" as turns to go leaving her standing there stunned and seemingly unable to move.

But as he takes the first step away from her, her will and heart join together, and causes her to keep a firm grip on his hand. She seizes the opportunity and deftly pulls him back to her as the next song begins to play. She neatly slides back into his embrace. Impressed by her courage he begins to slowly waltz her around the floor again.

This time she can feel his pulse race as she leans the side of her face into his neck. She can feel her whole body flush as her moves his hand from the small of her back up her spine to pull her even closer to him. She slides her hand, in a bold moved that even makes those around them drop their jaws in awe, up his shoulder and around the back of his neck to entwine in the surprisingly soft and silky hair at the base of his skull. With this bold move she also tilts her head back and up to look at him again. There is no more hiding it, both of their eyes are filled with desire, and they both know exactly what they want, each other.

At this moment all that she wants is for him to lean down with those slightly parted lips and kiss her, right there on the dance floor in front of everyone, but she knew that could not happen. Even though he was technically no longer her professor as of tomorrow, she knew he would never tarnish either their or the schools reputation by kissing a student. No matter how much they both wanted it.

She breathed deeply and placed her head back on his shoulder knowing for now that this one last dance was all that he could give to her. But with the remainder of this dance there was hope for something more. This night might end but she could hold onto her hope.

Again the music comes to a close and he releases her. This time though as her kisses her hand he smiles completely at her and again says "Until next time" Her heart skips a beat at the promise behind those three little words, she smiles back at him with a nod and says "Yes, next time" in a tone that reciprocates his promise. This causes him to raise an eyebrow to her and smirk. He turns and with a billowing of robes he is gone.

Her friends begin to surround her on the dance floor as she watches him exit. She quickly dismisses their questions about tonight and tells them that is was just a dance, but she knows better, she know that it was not just a dance but a moment that promised many more moments to come.

A/N: This came to me while I was watching my children take ballroom lessons. One of the instructors is tall, dark, and snarky. Kind of reminds me of what a young Snape would look like, and the Austrian accent does it for me every time.


End file.
